people who have spoken this morning have praised the response of first responders, from emergency personnel, and from the volunteers who were working at the marathon, who dropped what they were doing and rushed to aid those who had been injured in these blasts. >> as they've been trying to reduce the crime scene they've had to identify piles of leftover belongings and that's why there was confusion as to maybe other devices. they did disrupt as they put, looked at some things that could have been devices were not. we know there were two explosive devices and again, no further threats. now, matt, the runners know the last part of the race here as heartbreak hill, and i don't think anyone imagined what a heartbreaking day yesterday would turn out to be. >> of course it was the last several hundred yards where the tragedy took place, lester. you mentioned officials are calling for anyone in the public who has photographic or video evidence to contact them and turn it in. of course, there were a lot of cameras in that area, as people

tried to get shots of their loved ones crossing the finish line, and they may have inadvertently captured not only either one or both of these explosions but something else that may prove helpful to law enforcement in the coming hours, days and weeks. >> if you see something, say something, and that's what they're counting on, but the investigation obviously is just beginning here, and so much now. >> much more ahead on "nbc nightly news". -- >> bring out the best in others, the ones they seek to harm. >> right, there's still discussion obviously whether this was international terrorism or domestic terrorism. do you have a feeling on that? >> i this i this is one of those things you have to wait to play out. often there is a claim of responsibility quickly which we haven't seen yet. that could mean nothing. they say in those bombs they had bebes and ball bearings and i guess they asked one of the terrorism experts.

as lester just the fbi special agent in charge they're processing live digital evidence right now. that is a priority. why the officials who spoke at that press conference, already they received tips, they're getting an awful lot of feedback from the general public as to what may have happened behind us yesterday afternoon. lester, we arrived here in the early evening hours. you have been covering this story from your point of view. >> the skriem scene area has been reduced down to five blocks. belongings left over from runners. they're looking for particles of the bombs. the st part of the race,

runners call it heartbreak hill. there were families out here, families cheering on the nonelite runners at that point in the race. no one had any idea how heartbreaking this race would turn out to be. terror on the streets of boston. day of inspiration turned into a living nightmare. >> there's multiple people down here, okay. i don't know what the cause is. stand by. >> reporter: as two explosions went off within seconds of each other near the finish line of the boston marathon. >> have the bomb squad called. >> i knew immediately it was a bomb, you could smell it, it was like a gun powder smell. >> reporter: for runners prepared to celebrate the end of a 26-mile race, it was an incredible turn of events with emergency workers rushing to the scene at copley square, working fast to save injured athletes and spectators. >> i was carrying somebody who lost both of their legs in the

explosion. it was a lot of them lost limbs, catastrophic. >> reporter: at the time of the bombings approximately half the runners in the marathon had finished with the other half quickly approaching the final mile. confusion, shock and fear struck those now separated from loved ones. >> there was just families all around us with kids, i mean, yelling and screaming and i mean, we just wanted to try and get away as quick as possible. >> reporter: a scene of chaos usually reserved for the battlefield. >> this is like a bomb explosion that we hear about on the news in baghdad or israel. >> reporter: over 100 injured were rushed to boston's major hospitals for treatment. more than 23,000 runners from 96 countries plus thousands of fans were gathered downtown for the annual race. a third explosion was rumored to have occurred around 4:20 p.m. on monday at the nearby john f.

kennedy library, though further investigation indicates it may have been an unrelated maintenance fire. this morning, the national guard has secured the area where the blast occurred, and officials say the fbi is now leading the investigation. >> this remains a very active investigation. it will be an ongoing investigation. however, there are no known additional threats. >> reporter: initial reports indicate the bombs including bebes and other objects aimed at inflicting the most harm possible. overnight police went to an apartment building in revere, massachusetts, and interviewed two men. security has been increased in other major cities, including new york and los angeles. from the white house, president obama pledged to hunt down those responsible. >> make no mistake, we will get to the bottom of this and we will find out who did this. we'll find out why they did this.

any responsible individuals, any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice. >> reporter: monday was patriots day in massachusetts, and the boston marathon is usually a day of celebration. for many, it will now be remembered as a day of shock, sorrow, and terror. with regard to that search warrant in revere, massachusetts, we're told there are no suspects. they talked to a few individuals. they'll be talking to a lot of people, the fbi noting that we may talking to you, your neighbor and your friends. to get to the bottom of this. people running public transit here, are being met some times by random searches. >> we'll be speaking to some eyewitnesss to this tragedy in a up coof minutes. savannah, more coverage to you. we'll get to nbc justice correspondent pete williams.

as i turn to you, this news conference is going on, we know that officials did conduct two bomb sweeps in the area yesterday, one before the race and then one around the finish line they said about an hour before runners started to cross the finish line. what else can you tell us? >> despite the confusion overnight, they did not find more than two bombs, the two that went off, the confusion comes from the fact that as the bombs went off, people dropped packages they were holding and ran away. when police arrived on scene, they had all of these packages they had to check. they didn't take a lot of time. they simply destroyed them if there were any questions. some confusion last night that there were some unexploded devices. now they say that's not the case. as for revere, an apartment belonging to a student here who was 20 years old from saudi

arabia, he was seen running from the scene, authorities say they did not find anything that search to indicate that he had any involvement in the bombing. he's been questioned all night. the interest in him is fading. >> the fbi agent in charge won't comment on who may or may not be in custody many of the victims remain in the hospital. matt, we'll send it back to you. >> the new injury figures that we're getting out of the press conference that just wrapped up at the westin hotel, 176 people injured, of course, 3 of those were fatalities and early this morning, i spoke with nick and leann who were injured in the explosion and treated at tufts medical center and i began by asking her about the extent of

her injuries. >> i have an open tibula fracture and waiting to get a skin graft either today or tomorrow and then probably be put in a boot for the last part of the healing. >> and nick, how about you? were you injured as well? >> i was fortunate i only had a pierced eardrum. >> leanne, describe for me how close you were to the finish line, how close you were from where these devices were detonated? >> i'm not sure exactly where it was detonated. it sounded awfully close. we were probably about ten feet from the finish line. yeah, it was quite loud and definitely could smell the smoke and everything when it happened. >> and nick, i understand when you looked down and saw the extent of leanne's injuries you went into shock. how long was it before either of you could get to the hospital and were you able to stick together? >> no. when the police came in, they

wanted to get anybody who wasn't hurt out, so they could take care of everybody who was hurt. we were close enough to the bomb that went off by the finish line that there was a lot of bad things going on and everybody was just trying to help everybody. >> it was probably about 15 minutes if not more by the time i was carried from marathon sports to the medical tent and then i got loaded onto an ambulance after that. >> i had to sneak to the back of the medical tent, so i could try to find my wife. >> i'm glad you two are back together. leanne, i wish you luck with the surgery as you described it a little bit earlier. our thoughts are with you. >> thank you so much. >> thank you for joining us. steve silva is a senior sports reporter for "the boston globe." he was covering this marathon as he has done so many times in the past and he caught the explosions on tape. in that video you can see marathon official tom maher who's coming to the aid of a

fallen runner. and i'm joined by steve and tom. guys, nice to see you. you watched this through your lens, what was it like? >> it was surreal. the immediate split second a loud, dull thud. you saw the smoke. i thought a cannon celebration for a runner coming across, but as we got closer and 12 seconds later we heard the second explosion. >> i spoke to someone last night who said that at the first explosion there was confusion and the second explosion there was chaos. >> that's when it set in and you saw the scene as we got closer to the fence and it was just on the other side of the partition and you could see the blood and some horrible things there. >> there is that video that you took that shows a runner falling to the ground, being aided by a man who happens to be the man standing next to you, tom. you know, a lot of people when they heard that second explosion they ran away. you ran in the other direction or at least tried to help out. what did you see first? >> well, i was walking toward

exeter street to see one of the officials and diagonal, maybe 20 yards from the front of that lenscrafters store and horrific blast moved me to my left, i thought i was going to fall down. i did not. but as i turned i saw a wave, a huge wave of smoke and glass coming at me and i actually saw bodies flying, moving around, uncontrollably. >> you've been a volunteer at the finish line, a coordinator there for 17 years. did anything seem different about yesterday? did you notice anything suspicious, anybody that seemed out of place? >> no, nothing at all. >> steve? >> no, it was very, unlike last year when the heat was the big story, it was a perfect day for running. this is -- in the afternoon when all the charity runners are coming, the people running for dana farber, the river

foundation, because they've lost a family member, people that don't run marathons and used to coming across the line with raw emotion. about 9,000 were stranded out on the course when this happened. >> that was interview with steve and tom earlier today. they'll go to the ends of the earth to find those responsible for this despicable crime, he also said that there had been two sweeps of explosive devices before the race began. we're following more breaking news this morning, an earthquake in iran. natalie is back in new york with details on that. a powerful earthquake has hit iran, rattling buildings. we have the latest. >> it hit the southeast region of iran. biggest earthquake to hit the country in 50 years.

the tremors were so big they were felt to the east in new delhi and to the west in dubai. we're getting conflicts reports about the numbers of injured. iran's crisis management center said that there are no deaths. one of the major cities near the epiessential near the earthquake are reporting 10 people dead. we have to wait a little while longer to get the exact number. here's al with the weather. big storm system out west. we're looking a lot of snow in wyoming, anywhere from 6 to 9 inches of snow throughout much of central and eastern wyoming. we went but first, take a look at this : how old is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and had them show us. message. have known someoneof us who's lived well into their 90s.

and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer, one thing that hasn't changed: the official retirement age. ♪ the question is how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years. ♪ 7:17. tuesday morning. winds are going to play a big factor. 13 miles per hour sustained speed. they will start to pick up between 12:00 and 5:00. 70 degrees on the way to livermore. 64, san francisco. getting into the all-important weekend. temperatures on the climb into the mid-80s. . ou. of course the images from this tragedy in boston, matt,

are hard to forget. >> yes, they really are and the city, you can see it's anything but normal. this morning, just a second ago some boston police pulled up, took control of this intersection, a bus pulled up behind them and members of the national guard got out and went down into the lower areas here, and then it moved on and it seems like they're dispersing around the city. hotels are seeing incredibly high security, we came in last night, drove along storrow drive, every off-ramp of that drive was shut down by state troopers. they wanted people to simply pass through and get out of town. one moment, joy on the faces of runners and spectators behind us and yesterday afternoon the next moment there was panic. >> go away, go away. go back. go back. >> my god.

my god. oh, my god. >> we're coming on the air right now to report two explosions near the finish line of today's boston marathon. >> all units stay off the air and make your way over there. >> and we just saw chaos. >> this is like a bomb explosion in baghdad. >> make no mistake, we will get to the bottom of this. >> bostonians pride themselves on their toughness and we'll keep on living our lives the way we do. >> we'll have more ahead from boston and new york. this is "today" on nbc. boston a. this is "today" on nbc. wow, the track looks perfect.

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katherine, who is wa running in the marathon when the bombs exploded. katherine hern posting an update late last night saying aaron hern is in the icu in stable condition. a shrapnel injury to the boy's thy will require additional surgery. closer to home in san jose, a little girl sadly is dead and a toddler is hurt after flames simply ripped through the room where they were sleeping overnight. the girls were apparently trapped inside a detached building next to a home on north fifth street near east empair street. th that is in japan town. a 7-year-old girl was found dead while her 4-year-old sister was treated for burns. investigators looking into the cause. a major traffic backup right now on the peninsula. you can see there is a dump truck crashed on its side. a dicey proposition. let's go to mike inouye to check out how things are working on the morning commute. coming off the san mateo

bridge, a heavy volume of traffic. here is that overturned rig. the transition off of 92 didn't make the turn. tipped over blocking two lanes of southbound 101. your commute direction. that is going to take three hours to clear up. the map will show you not only southbound 101 affected but west 92, the connector closed. use el camino or 280. christina, at least the weather is better than that traffic for now. the strong will increase throughout 5:00 p.m. winds at their strongest this evening. 50-mile-per-hour gusts yet again today. make sure you are ready for that. temperaturewise, more on the mild side. 64, san francisco. getting into your wednesday, temperatures climb. the winds relax hoping you have a fantastic day.

it is 7:30 now on a tuesday morning. it's the 16th day of april, 2013. it is also the morning after the deadly twin bombings at the finish line of the world famous boston marathon. good morning, everyone. i'm matt lauer in boston. this morning, savannah is back in studio 1a in new york city. >> we were both in boston recently, we know what a special time this is for the people

there. you lived in boston for a short time. i imagine this is a city whose heart is breaking today. >> it is. this is such an important and iconic event to this city, 500,000 or so people come here for the boston marathon every year, it's held on patriots day, it's a celebration, a chance for the people of boston to show off their best side and this happens and yes, savannah, the people here are still in shock this morning and there are so many heartbreaking stories and also some really touching moments as well. from what we have heard this morning from so many people, personnel from the race came streaming out of tents and volunteer areas to treat and help the victims, runners crossing the finish line then continued on jogging or walking to area hospitals saying can i donate blood to help the people who were injured in these blasts? coming up one doctor who was watching his wife compete in this race and ended up working on some of the injured,

savannah. >> a bit later on, part one of our exclusive interview with president obama been . we talked about the push for new gun legislation, facing a critical test on capitol hill and this unfolding crisis in north korea, what he makes of this new young leader, kim jong-un and a lot more. we'll have that and a lot more. let's begin this half hour with more on the terror that unfolded at the boston marathon just before 3:00 this afternoon. nbc's katie terr is at brigham and women's hospital. >> reporter: good morning, matt, there is still a lot of security here at brigham and women's. if you're not supposed to be in side, they are not letting you inside. many victims suffered massive trauma to their lower bodies. the boston police department confirmed three people have

died. this was obtained by our affiliate whdh, an 8-year-old boy and they have confirmed his name is martin richard. the carnage of the blast on boylston spread quickly to hospitals. some missing limbs. >> just mayhem, patients left and right, no legs, no arms. >> reporter: the chaos in the streets and the rush of victims to local medical centers felt like a war zone. >> we're going to get the victims out. >> reporter: people screaming, others fleeing and so many left wounded. >> i've been to afghanistan, it was like that kind of bomb. >> reporter: this shrapnel from the blast scene left many with lower body injuries, some lost legs on scene, others to necessary emergency room amputations. >> patients have minor eardrum blasts all the way through to really serious limb injuries and some serious head injuries as

well. >> reporter: the explosions in boston worried many throughout the nation who had friends and loved ones at the marathon. among the uncertainty the s.w.a.t. guard stood at the entrance to the hospital. family and visitors asked to leave, only the injured allowed. >> we're locked down because it's unclear what is going on in the city and we want to make sure our security team and caregivers can stay focused on caring for the injured. >> reporter: people looking to help in any way they could. >> a lot of people were hurt, we ran as fast as we could down here to give blood. >> reporter: just after the blast some runners rushed to the injured on scene, others crossed the finish line, kept on running straight to mass general to try to give blood, to do what they can, tremendous outpouring of support from the community as this tragedy unfolded. nbc news confirmed the saudi man who was being questioned is here at brigham and women's. he suffered bad burns, he's only

being questioned, he is not a suspect as of now and matt we expect as the morning goes on to get updated information on all of the victims being treated. >> katy tur, thank you very much. dr. alan painter was waiting for his wife, teresa, to cross the finish line when the explosions occurred. he tended to the injured when teresa and the others were turned around. good morning, nice to see you. doctor, you're an emergency room physician operating out of florida, this is your 15th marathon. you two were separated but you were waiting for teresa to cross the finish line and from what i understand, you were right in the middle of both of these blasts. they were at 671 boylston and 690. you were standing right in the middle. >> i was about 20 to 30 feet from the first blast. >> and how closely were you surrounded by other people and what was the impact like? >> well, i was surrounded by a lot of people as we're all trying to watch the runners cross the finish line. the people to my left took the

blow and the blast, most of them dropped. the people behind me actually did, too, and i was standing there without a scratch. >> you mentioned it was like dominos that the impact hit the first people and they fell down and you were the one left standing. when you first started to see the injured around you, talk to me about some of the people you encountered. >> well when i first spun around i saw one lady bleeding from her leg wound, put some compression on that and realized what had been to my left had gone down and just started helping with the other bystanders, pulling people actually apart because they were laying in a pile basically with mangled limbs and started working on each person as could you. >> and doctor, i know encountered one man who had both lower limbs amputated? >> yes, he lost both legs below the knee and started worki inin a young lady. >> were you able to comfort him at all? >> he was in shock, mumbling words but not coherently.

>> teresa you were 0.2 miles from the finish line when the explosions took place. you were turned back but you knew your husband was standing at the finish line waiting for you. what was that like? >> it was hard. it was about an hour, hour and a half before i was able to get to my baggage in the bus and call him, because i was grabbing phones where they had held us and no calls, we couldn't get any calls out so i didn't know. it was upsetting. >> must have been some moment when you got to see each other after that. >> yes. >> both of you wanted me to say the volunteers, the people around the scene of these explosions were incredible in the way they acted. >> the people on the street, i'll just say the sidewalk volunteers, instead of running away, they stopped and fell and worked with people. when the boston athletic association volunteers came, they came with supplies, and once you got in the medical tent it was all that an e.r. physician could ask for, cots, ivs, nurses and physicians.

it was well prepared. >> doctor, thanks for what you did, thanks for joining us, teresa, thank you so much. we'll have much more ahead from boston in a couple of minutes. right now let's head to new york and get a check of the weather from al. >> matt, thanks so much. talking about the winter storm and also got a severe side to this storm as well. take a look at the area of severe weather today, abilene, texas, to cincinnati to birmingham, alabama, we've got the risk of strong storms, tornadoes, hail, wind. we're looking at a vigorous line of thunderstorms moving through the midwest and this line of thunderstorms going to also be a big problem for tomorrow from again abilene all the way into peoria, illinois, risk of tornadoes, heavy rain, two to four inches of rain, could be flooding rains tom 7:38 on a tuesday morning. more fierce wind to get to. grab your coat as we head throughout tomorrow. winds will relax. we will get a little bit of warmup tomorrow afternoon.

as we get into the upcoming weekend and the end of the week. temperatures are going to end up in the 70s. pretty comfortable in livermore. we have a much calmer atmosphere. 83 by saturday. >> that's your latest weather. matt? >> all right, al, thank you so much. coming up next the question some are asking in the wake of the boston bombing. how do you keep people safe at crowded events like a marathon or a parade or anything else? we'll talk about that, right after this. [ children shoutin] [ blows ] [ poof! ] wooo! hey there! i'm your rav4 genie. got any wishes? i wish my son was safer. well, this rav4 has a blind spot monitor and 8 airbags. whoa! how about when he's not in the car? right. [ snaps fingers ] [ laughter ] oh, no. oh, yeah. wooo! use your knees. [ male announcer ] the all-new rav4.

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new honey bunches of oats greek. back at 7:43 now as you might expect, this deadly attack in boston is prompting increased security in cities across the country. nbc's tom costello is on the national mall in washington, d.c., this morning. tom, good morning to you. >> reporter: hi, savannah, good morning. this is emancipation day here in washington that, means a parade down pennsylvania avenue. it will go on as planned. in london this weekend they have a marathon planned. next weekend a marathon is planned in oklahoma city, all of it with the threat of terrorism looming large. in washington, always viewed as a potential terrorist target, a show of force, heavily armed police and dog teams patrolling the subways, checking trash bins. in new york the nypd in grand central station and times square and across the country the lapd

out in force at the dodgers game, union station and lax but security experts warn ensuring 100% security at a public event like the boston marathon simply isn't realistic. >> if somebody wants to go out and kill people, they can. the question remains, can they cause mass casualties and can they sustain an attack. >> reporter: oklahoma city, 1995, 168 dead including 19 children. timothy mcveigh was convicted and executed for planting the bomb. the atlanta olympics 1996, two dead, more than 100 wounded after a backpack holding pipe bombs exploded. domestic terrorist eric rudolph was arrested seven years later. london, 2005, 52 dead, 700 wounded, after coordinated suicide attacks on the underground and bus systems. times square 2010, a car bomb failed to explode, police later arrested a pakistani-american

trying to board a flight to the middle east. dan bongino's job when he was at the secret service, protect president obama with 1.8 million people on the washington mall gathered for his first inauguration. >> you can't guarantee anything. all do you in the field of security is reduce the probability of an event like this to hopefully something so miniscule so if something happens your response afterwards is enough to keep the casualties to a minimum. >> if this turns out to be domestic or international terrorism it will remind people of the difficulty of the task that we have been working against over the past ten years. >> reporter: security experts say that over the last 11 or 12 years as we've gotten farther and farther away from 9/11 americans have grown tired of being hassled by the tsa and the security at sporting events and this soft target a marathon underscores the fact that these threats remain very real. >> tom costello in washington for us this morning.

bill bratton is the former police commissioner in new york and served in los angeles as well. good morning. >> good morning. >> i know this strikes close to home for you. when you talk about securing an event like the boston march than, open air, outside event with thousands of spectators and runners, what kind of sweep do you think would have taken place prior to this? >> well, there's a multifocus, there's the intelligence analysis that is going on all the time to see if there's any chatter, any discussion on a number of these channels about the event. at the same time there's the physical security component of it, the bomb dogs, the physical barriers that are put up, all the various planning that goes into pulling off an event like this, the crowd control, emergency responders, response if necessary. certainly in yesterday's event the boston marathon event the response to that event was instantaneous, it was the result of a lot of the training and

emergency preparedness that's gone into american cities over the last 10 to 12 years since 9/11 but as has been clearly indicated you cannot prevent everything. we've done a very good job over the last 12 years but yesterday showed that unfortunately you can't stop it all. >> and these are of course critical hours in the investigation. obviously the officials are going to be overwhelmed with tips. they also have the advantage of a lot of cell phone video of this incident as it took place. give us an insight into two investigators are dealing with right now. >> well, first of all, now we have the fbi in charge of the overall investigation, that's a protocol that's been established in incidents which appear to be terrorist in nature and certainly the extraordinary capabilities of that agency and its intelligence and evidence gathering assisted now by the boston police and effectively every other federal agency, they will be going in many

directions, one at the scene itself, analyze the devices that went off, try to make a determination as to what did they look like before they went off, that helps them potentially identify the people or person involved in its preparation and planting. there will also be basically working all those tips that you referenced, they will be going back over any tips or comments that might have been made about the marathon. in our country as you know there is no shortage of people who have grievances, who hate and who unfortunately don't manifest themselves in acts such as this routinely, but right now there is no understanding of who might have been behind this. if law enforcement officials do have that focus or understanding, understandablier this not giving it out to the public until they know for certainty who was involved. >> always a note of caution in these early hours.

bill bratton former police commissioner of boston and other municipalities in the u.s., thank you so much. we are back with more from new york and boston, right after this. see life in the best light. outdoors, or in. transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it's meant to be seen. maybe even a little better. visit your eyecare professional today to ask about our newest lenses, transitions vantage and transitions xtractive lenses. experience life well lit. ask which transitions adaptive lens is best for you.

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coming up from here in boston we'll have the latest overnight developments on the investigation into the deadly bombings here, savannah? >> we'll also have our exclusive interview with president obama, what he's saying about the in:nk and the fight over the guns bill, after your local news. especially my niece. the moment she pointed out my moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis... well, it was really embarrassing. so i had a serious talk with my dermatologist. this time, she prescribed humira-adalimumab. humira helps to clear the surface of my skin by actually working inside my body. in clinical trials, most adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis saw 75% skin clearance. and the majority of people were clear or almost clear in just 4 months. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening

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it is 7:56. good morning. i'm jon kelley. gunshots leading to a hat matt situation. pg&e got a call about shots fired near their substation near highway 101. they found one transformer had been vandalized and it caused the oil to leak out. there were no power outages related to this incident. five people accused of killing a millionaire during a home invasion robbery expected in court this morning. the three men and two women are

set to enter their pleas. they are being tried as a group of the november 30th death of ravi kumra. the two women are prostitutes that they believe gave information to the three men helping them break into the home killing kumra. let's take a look outside and check the tuesday forecast. good morning to you, jon. good morning to you at home. we are at 39 in santa cruz in livermore. 44, livermore, 46, concord. we have bypassed the coolest point of the day. temperatures will start to climb. you will notice the difference running between 2-10 degrees cooler. winds will continue to pick up as we head throughout the day. a warmer afternoon on tap. 78, livermore, 68 in fremont. 68 in san francisco. we keep climbing into the weekend. let's check the wurush-hour dri with mike. a crash just cleared. bottom of the screen, southbound side, jamming up around

university. there may be a fender-bender and folks their brakes. the earlier crash, a significant alert. one of your southbound lanes blocked. folks coming off the bridge cannot go south so they are going north into the congestion. back in half an hour with more local updates. ♪

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something something just blew up! run, go! >> breaking news on a tuesday morning. we're learning more about the dual explosions that rocked the boston marathon, an iconic event, marred by tragedy. 8:00 on a somber tuesday morning. the 16th of april, 2013. i'm savannah guthrie in new

york. and matt has been in boston this morning. >> savannah, good morning again to you. the scene obviously surreal. the runners approaching the finish line after completing more than 2 6 miles of this race. people on the sidelines, family members and loved ones cheering them on. they were lining the streets. and this morning, the fbi is leading an investigation, being called a very fluid and active investigation. we'll have the latest in a couple of minutes. savannah. >> math, also ahead, we'll air part one of the exclusive interview with president obama. sat down with him just hours before the attack in boston. and asked him whether he thinks congress will pass this new gun legislation. hanging by a thread, according to some accounts and how worried is he about the provocative action and rhetoric from the north korean leader, kim jong-un? is he stable? we'll hear from him in our exclusive interview, coming up.

>> let's begin with new details on the deadly attack at the boston marathon. lester holt joins me once again here in boston. >> matt, good morning. the investigation moving on so many different levels, everything from looking at surveillance levels along the route, cameras that might have captured something. important developments overnight. we want to catch you up on search warrants, apparently issued in revere, massachusetts. searched an apartment, questioned two men. not described as suspects. first of two possible leads that police will be following up as they try to put the pieces degree. three dead, including an 8-year-old child. 160 people at least taken to area hospitals. one doctor described to me last night as the injuries being lower extremity issues. amputati amputations, muscle damage from

sha shrapnel put in explosive devices. and crime scene, stretches a mile three blocks wide, the area of boston closed off indefinitely. that means businesses and some homes that people cannot get to. the rest of boston will be up and running. transit passengers will be warned there will be random searches as they continue and try and calm this city. but secure a city very much on edge. >> you can understand why people are on edge. pete williams, nbc justice correspondent following the investigation. pete, have you forensics, intelligence, eyewitness accounts and an awful lot of video these investigators have a lot to look at. >> yes and the pieces of the bomb itself, matt. in terms of the search, that's the apartment of a 20-year-old student from saudi arabia on a currently active student visa.

in the hospital with burns, some people thought he was acting suspiciously. questioned all night, there is still no final word on what exactly his status is, one official said he might be involved. on the other hand, he might turn out to be an innocent bystander. secondly, how many devices? lots of confusion about this. they seem to think there were just the two, no unexploded devices. although there were many packages left on the street as people left what they were carrying on the street and ran away. now they will receive every little piece of the devices. and great deal of optimism about this. let me give you a quick example here, matt, of what you can find by looking at little pieces. in the olympic park bombing, in 1996 in atlanta. this is what authorities were able to say the device was made of, just from looking at the tiny little pieces they found. they knew it was in a backpack, a metal plate in it the thing in the bottom, the steel plate to direct the force, what kind of smokeless power, what kind of

alarm clock. that say small example of what they can find out once they get the pieces of the bomb, matt. >> years ago, you talk about the signature of a bombmaker with so much information on the internet these days, that kind of a passing concept? >> well, you know, it is. a changing one certainly. although they will hope to be able to determine maybe perhaps by what sort of internet thing the person was inspired. how do they wire to together, all things to be pursued. >> pete, thank you very much. katy tur is at brigham & women's hospital here in boston. treated about 330 of the victim. >> the number of people at area hospitals is expected to grow. people will wake up and realize they may too need medical attention.

a major police presence, but it has been stepped down slightly as the morning has gone on. are you allowed to enter the hospital. two in critical condition. nine others with limb threatening wounds. they might need amputations. and at boston children's hospital, they are treating ten patients. and the youngest patient treated anywhere could be as young as 2 years old. boston police department has confirmed three people dead, and our affiliate, whgh, has confirmed one dead is martin richard. from dorchester. that area is in a state of disbelief. we do not expect to get anymore names, at least today. >> katy tur here at brigham & women's, thank you very much. more from boston coming up. first, let's head to natalie in new york for a check of other

stories making news. overseas, a major earth quick hit iran, shaking buildings as far away as india. we have the latest from iran. >> reporter: good morning. a huge 7.8 magnitude earthquake has shook the southeast of iran. iranian authorities say this is the largest earthquake to hit iran in the last 40 years and a very earthquake-prone country. we're hearing reports of two villages affected in the southeast. and initial reports are saying that 40 people have died in the villages. but still very early to say. the villages are very far from tehran, and communications have gone down, and an earthquake last -- a power plant in bushar and we have to see what exactly the death toll and injury toll from this earthquake in the southeast will be. >> following all of the

developments. thank you. a senate showdown looming over the proposal to expand background checks for gun buyers. there are signs that republican opposition to the bipartisan measure may be growing. the white house said president obama was calling lawmakers to urge their support. and sponsors of the measure are reportedly considering a change that would exempt gun buyers that li hundreds of miles from licensed firearms dealers. sweeping immigration bill being introduced today in the senate will give 11 million immigrants in the country illegally a path to citizenship. and it would pour $6.5 million into border security. now for a look at how the internet community is reaching out in the wake of the boston bombings. google launched a person finder to search for loved ones caught up in the chaos. others turned to the red cross safe and well program, where people can register to let

friends and family know they are okay. and comedian patton oswalt is trying to help victims. also, a picture and quote of tv host mr. rogers, when you see scary things in the news, look for the helpers. you will always find people who are helping. and bostonians are opening their hearts and homes to anyone stranded by the tragedy. google has created two online documents where people can reach out if they need a place to stay or have one to offer. good to see some good in all of this. 8:09. let's get a check of the weather from al. >> natalie, thank you so much. we take a look at satellite and ray dark we have a pretty good line of showers and thunderstorms, stretching from new england all the way into the midwest. snow through the northern rockies anywhere from 6 to 9 inches of snow back through parts of wyoming, with strong

storms from oklahoma to ohio. look for wet weather moving to the northeast later on today. windy, breezy and we're looking at high surf advisories for southern californi that goes for the bay area today as well. al, good morning. it will be windy here. we will see some pretty rough seas. 46 in san jose. chilly out there. livermore at 44, 49. in san francisco there's a windchill factor and winds will increase as we head throughout the day. they will be strong between 12:00 and 5:00. make sure you keep that in mind. overall warmer day shaping up. slated to hit the low 70s. 71 on the way to fairfield. 64 at the immediate coast in san francisco. 68 in oakland. much warmer getting into the end of the week. >> that's your latest weather. savannah? >> al, thank you. coming up next the potential significance of the timing of the attack on the boston marathon, why have so many tragic mass killings happened in this country during this week of april. we'll get into that, right after this.

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welcome back to this special edition of "today" as we cover the aftermath of monday's bombings at the boston marathon. natalie is back with more on why this event means so much to this city. >> that's right, savannah, from many participants completing the race is a lifelong dream. it is known for its challenging hills and its enthusiastic crowds but this year it became the perfect target for terror. who could have predicted a race that began with the traditional starting gun would end with a pair of explosions. a city wide celebration transformed in an instant by an act of terrorism. >> everybody was excited, taking pictures and next thing you know it's just utter chaos. we were terrified and the only thing we could think of, is there another bomb? >> it's literally the best day

of the year in the city and everybody is just absolutely stunned. >> the marathon is beloved in boston. it is held on patriots day, statewide holiday to mark the shot heard round the world at the battles of lexington and concord. each year, revolutionary war re-enactors take the field and so do the red sox. >> red sox win! a walkoff on patriots day! >> reporter: played an early game so fans can catch some of the marathon. it is now the longest running annual marathon. this year the 117th annual. the event has overcome hurdles, finally allowing women to run with the men in 1972, and now letting disabled athletes compete. over the years, many marathon runners have drawn inspiration from dick and rick hoyt, the father and son who have completed the race more than 30 times. the sta the uof the pair was unveiled in the days leading up

to the race. and we have heard from the hoyts on their facebook page. they say everyone on their team is okay. they say, though, to please, let us pray for all the victims and their families. so vanna? >> thank you. mike lua is an author and columnist at "the new york daily news." good morning to you. >> good morning, savannah. >> this is hitting the heart of boston in so many ways, and the soul and spirit of the city. >> anybody who has ever attended this race, anybody who has ever spent time in boston and i went to college there, my two sons have gone to school there, i have a son at boston college there this becomes personal for them. unless you've ever attended, it's impossible to describe, this is the best day of the year. maybe when a sports team wins a championship it feels better. this is a celebration you think on this day of everything that's good in the world. all you see are happy people. tired, happy people at the end of the race but all you hear from hopkington on are cheers

and the site yesterday of people running away from the finish line at the boston marathon like we saw people running away from downtown manhattan is one of the most chilling and sad things i've ever seen. >> you've covered it many times. the street is loaded with spectators in so many ways the perfect target. >> it's an open target and even though the winners had come through long ago, somebody's waiting for somebody at the finish line. some family member is waiting for a wife or a daughter, a son. my son's roommate's sister was running in the race. she got to the 23 mile mark and a lot of these kids carry cell phones in the race because they're back in the pack, not trying to win the race. her brother calls her from the finish line and says stop running and the kid said, did something happen in new york? people always assume it's something in new york and then they started getting herded back towards fenway park, and kenmore square so instead of running toward the finish line which is a great triumph for the runners

they're moving in the other direction yesterday because of the bombings. >> it's heartbreaking. mike lupica it's always great to have your perspective. this is a city and event that means a lot to you. >> i'm on my way up this morning. >> let's turn to matt for more in boston. >> savannah, thank you very much. as the nation tries to sort through this tragedy, you can't help but remember that a lot of other violent incidents have happened in the month of april. nbc's tom llama s is here right now. >> we know the last 20 years in this country several terrorist attacks and school shootings have taken place this time of the year, some connected, some random, all of them deadly. as tough as they are to watch, these images coming out of boston are all too familiar. especially during april, which has become a painful and

unforgettably violent month in this country's history. six years ago today the virginia tech massacre, 33 people killed on the campus. >> he killed my best friend. >> reporter: during another shooting at columbine high school two teenagers killed 13 of their classmates and themselves april 20th, 1999. >> let's get out of here. move everybody back. >> reporter: in 1995, timothy mcveigh truck bombed the alfred p.murow building. also on april 19th the end of the waco siege in 1993, after a 51-day standoff, authorities took control of cult leader david koresh's davidian compound, nearly 19 people died in the aftermath. timothy mcveigh acted in part because of what happened in waco. one more quick note about the timing. yesterday was tax day for everyone in this country but

here in boston it was patriots day which commemorates the battles of lexington and concord, the start of the u.s. revolutionary war. big day not only for the country but boston. >> what was supposed to be a celebration turned out differently. let's go back to new york and savannah. >> matt on monday evening president obama spoke about this tragedy offering his thoughts and prayers to the city and vowing justice to those involved. i happened to sit down with him shortly before these explosions and we talked about a number of things in the headlines. we began with the gun legislation before congress that many say is now hanging by a thread. >> i think we've got a good chance of seeing it pass if members of congress are listening to the american people so let's just take the example of background checks. 90% of americans think that we should make it tougher for criminals or people with serious mental illnesses to obtain a

gun, and so the notion that congress would defy the overwhelming instinct of the american people after what we saw happen in newtown, i think, is unimaginable. >> you are asking democrats and conservative states to take a tough vote politically, something you, yourself, did not do. you didn't run on this in 2008 or 2012, not after tucson, not after aurora. >> i think that all of us had to reflect on what we did or didn't do after newtown. if the question is, is this potentially difficult politically because the gun lobby is paying attention and has shown no willingness to budge, then the answer is yes. that's a given. now, if the question is what's the right thing to do and what are the american people believing overwhelmingly? if that's what's guiding members of congress during the next couple of weeks, then this will

pass. >> let's move to north korea. is kim jong-un unstable? >> well, i'm not a psychiatrist, and i don't know the leader of north korea. what i do know is that the actions they've taken, the rhetoric they've engaged in has been provocative. it has been condemned across the board internationally, and it's unnecessary, because what it's done is ironically isolated north korea further. if they want to rejoin the community of nations, that path is available to them. >> the cycle of provocation for them, as you well know. is there something qualitatively different about this time? >> well, this is the same kind of pattern that we saw his father engage in and his grandfather before that. since i came into office the one thing i was clear about was

we're not going to reward this kind of provocative behavior. you don't get to bang your spoon on the table and somehow you get your way. >> is this the closest we've been to war with north korea on your watch? >> you'll recall that north korea shot down a korean, south korean fishing boat, that wasn't just words, that was action, so we've seen this kind of pattern before. i think all of us would anticipate that north korea will probably make more provocative moves over the next several weeks, but our hope is that we can contain it, and that we can move into a different phase in which they try to work through diplomatically some of these issues so that they can get back on a path where they're feeding their people. >> does north korea in your estimation have the ability to put a nuclear weapon on a ballistic missile? >> based on our current

aintelligence assessments we do not think they have that capacity but we have to make sure that we are dealing with every contingency out there and that's why i've repositioned missile defense systems to guard against any miscalculation on their part. >> on the budget, is this your last best final offer to republicans? >> what i tried to do is put forward a budget that i think is a realistic compromise. >> would you go farther on entitlement cuts? >> it does not give republicans everything they want, frankly it doesn't reflect everything i would like to see. it puts forward some of the ideas the republicans had suggested around entitlement reform that i think are reasonable policy. >> they say it's not enough and it's not enough to make a deal, would you go farther? >> i think that before we go anywhere, right now we've got to see from republicans what exactly is it that they want to do. i mean, when they say they want

to go farther, what do they want to do? what are they putting on the table. >> you've got democrats a little mad at you, too, saying you've cut social security and medicare and now this is going to come back and haunt them in their races. >> part of what we have to think about, whether we're democrats or republicans is how do we create a system where our social insurance programs, medicare, medicaid and social security are sustainable for the long-term and my budget does that. it makes sure that people in need are cared for, but what it also says is let's make sure we're not spending it all down now so that the next generation that's paying into the system can't going to have those same benefits. >> a lot to talk to the president about, matt, and of course we sat down with him a few hours before all of this happened in boston, so much going on in that news between the gun legislation, immigration legislation being unveiled, and yet as we are so often reminded, news events, something like this, changes everything in an

instant. >> yes, nothing can be predicted now, another big issue perhaps on his plate, and i look forward to more of your interview tomorrow, savannah, here on "today". meanwhile we're back with much more from boston and new york, right after these messages and your local news. good tuesday morning to you. 8:26. i'm laura garcia-cannon. in just a few minutes, three boys accused of sexually assaulting a teenager girl who later killed herself will appear in court. the 16-year-old boys were arrested last week, charged with sexual battery for allegedly assaulting 15-year-old audrie pott at a party last fall. the pott family attorney said audrie killed herself after a

photo of the assault was sent by text message and e-mail to at least 10 students at the school saratoga high. the three teens will be in court for a hearing this morning. time to check out the commute. >> still a tough drive. first talk about tough traffic flow, north 280 coming at us underneath the 17. on ramp going north 880 to that mix. we look at the map. that's the heart of the map. north 87 on the bottom, very tough drive as well. 101 coming out not looking so bad. this morning tough northbound 101 starting to thin out a bit. connector west 92 off san mateo bridge, closed one southbound lane because of overturned truck, should be 10:00 before it reopens. back to you. >> continues to be a busy one. we'll monitor everyone with a local news update. another update in half an hour.

good day from boston. coming to you from near the scene of yesterday's marathon twin bombing. but our attention right now turns to washington and the white house where president obama in a few moments will make another statement related to this tragedy. peter alexander is in the briefing room. peter, what sort of guidance do we have about the presidential statement? >> as you noted, we expect to hear from president obama in a matter of moments. a top aide told me that just earlier this morning he was briefed in the oval office by

his fbi director, muller, as well as chief of staff dennis mcdonough and his assistant, the woman who replaced john brennan, to keep him up-to-date on all developments taking place in terms of the investigation into what took place at the finish line of the boston marathon. the president will be out shortly and we'll hear from him then. >> all right. want for quickly go to pete williams, our justice correspondent. pete, what progress have they made in the investigation so far? >> the main points i would say number one, they now know just two devices, no other unexploded devices. they did search the apartment last night of a young man 20 years old who is here on a student visa who was seen running from the scene, thought acted suspiciously. they found nothing of value in that search. i would say the interest in him is fadesing a ifading although continuing to look into his background, starting to gather pieces of the devices recovered from the scene and from the victims. some of the pieces of course are in them and are being taken out

and studied and we hope to know more today about how the bomb was made. >> we are waiting for the president and here he is. >> national security teams including director muller, attorney general holder, secretary napolitano and homeland security adviser on the attacks in boston. we continue to mobilize and deploy all resources to protect our citizens and investigate and to respond to this attack. obviously our first thoughts this morning are with the victims, their families, and the city of boston. we know that two explosions gravely wounded dozens of americans and took the lives of others including an 8-year-old boy. this was a heinous and cowardly act. given what we now know about

what took fbi is investigating it as an act of terrorism. anytime bombs are used to target civilian, it is an act of terrorism. what we don't yet know, however, is who carried out the attack or why, whether it was planned and executed by a terrorist organization, foreign or domestic, or was the act an individual. clearly we're at the beginning of our investigation. it will take time to follow every lead and determine what happened. but we will find out. we will find whoever harmed our citizens and we will bring them to justice. we also know this. the american people refuse to be terrorized because what the world saw yesterday, the aftermath of the explosions were stories of heroism and kindness and generosity and love.

exhausted runners who kept running to the nearest hospital to give blood and those who stayed to tend to the wounded, some tearing off their own clothes to make tourniquets. the first responders who ran into the chaos to save lives. the men and women who are still treating the wounded at some of the best hospitals in the word a world and the medical students who hurried to help saying when we heard, we all came in. the priests who opened their churches and ministers to the hurt and fearful. and the good people of boston who opened their homes to the victims of the attack. so if e you want to know what america is and how we respond to evil, that's it. selflessly, compassionately, unafraid. in the coming day, we will pursue every opportunity forget to the bottom of what happened and we will continue to remain vigilant. i've directed my administration to take appropriate security measures to protect the american

people and this is a good time for all of us to remember that we all have a part to play in alerting authorities, if you see something suspicious, speak up. i have extraordinary confidence in the men and women of the fbi, the boston police department and the other agencies that responded so heroically and effectively in the after math of yesterday's events. i'm very grateful for the leadership of governor patrick and mayor menino, and i know that even as we protect our people and aggressively pursue this investigation, the people of boston will continue to respond in the same proud and heroic way that they have thus far. and their fellow americans will be right there with them. thank you very much. and you can expect further briefings from our law enforcement officials as the day goes on. when we have more details, they will be disclosed. what i've indicated to you is what we know now. we know it was bombs that were

set off. we know that obviously they did some severe damage. we do not know who did them. we do not know whether this is an act of an organization or an individual or individuals. we don't have a sense of motive yet. so everything else at this point is speculation. but as we receive more information, as the fbi has more information, as our counterterrorism teams have are more information, we will make sure to keep you and the american people posted. thank you very much, everybody. >> the president taking no questions after that statement. his second statement since the twin bombings during the boston marathon yesterday. he added really no new information in terms of the investigation and who may have committed this crime. he did, however, offer new language noting this is an act of terrorism. he notedly did not use the term

terror or terrorism in his first statement yesterday. let me bring in our chief white house correspondent and political director chuck todd. chuck, your thoughts about the president changing the language in describing this attack. >> i can tell you what aides told me about why he didn't use it yesterday. they know when the american public hears the president of the united states say terrorism, that a definition is received by them in a way that perhaps the white house didn't want to send that out there yesterday. so that's why they have been very careful with their language. and that's why the president was careful now. he used those words terrorism and act of terror and then emphasized we don't know if it's a group, if it's an individual, if it's foreign, domestic, what the motives are. you can argue that a technical definition of terrorism is somebody who does something like this with a political motivation behind them, whether international, whether domestic.

one of the things the white house wants to emphasize is they don't know the motive. >> chuck todd, the president saying the u.s. will respond to evil unafraid. he's also encouraged americans to speak up. that dovetails with what officials here have been saying asking for people to come forward with not only information, but photographs, video, that might have been taken at or near the scene that might give them a clue as to who perpetrated these attacks, again attacks now being called an act of terrorism by the president in his statement. we'll have continuing updates throughout the day and of course full coverage on "nbc nightly news". i'm lester holt, nbc news, boston. on the roof. whomever is responsible, it will never make sense as to why.

>> furious whoever did this. >> and that anger is now online, as well. two of the victims i spoke to said that not only are they angry, they want the answer as to why. and they know there will never be a justification to answer the question why. >> kerry sanders in boston for us. thank you. this boston marathon attack is a global event, being felt around the world this morning. for that, let's get to london. good morning to you. >> good morning. yeah, the horror of what happened in boston is echoing around the world this morning. let me show you a couple of front pages. the british newspaper, blood bath at the marathon. another newspaper in italian showing that chilling picture from the moment after the explosions. a german newspaper praising what it calls the well functioning american security system and how

the american security responded. it means -- politicians around the world, also, a statement from china that will be seen as significant saying china strongly condemns and firmly opposes any violent attacks against civilians. so much support for boston. >> and big public event coming up in london, including the london marathon this weekend. >> that's right. it's on sunday. they're expecting 700,000 spectators and competitors and prince harry is expected to present medals to the runners at the end of the race near the finish line. now, sources are saying he will still do that saying he's not been notified of any changes to his plans. but police saying they will step up security and stepping up security, too, for the funeral of the former british prime minister margaret thatcher

tomorrow at which secretaries and former secretaries of state james baker, george issuschultz henry kissinger and even dick cheney expected to attend. so clearly high security there because whoever did this, the aim looks as if it was to spread fear. what politicians and police are doing around the world are trying to ensure that that fear doesn't spread around the world. >> so many people on edge for good reason this morning. coming up next, matt talks to an emergency room doctor who treated a number of victims at the scene.

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pictures by the barricades back there, it occurs to you that some of these people probably never got to finish the marathon. they were rerouted after the tragedy. others may have finished and then were ushered out of this area quickly to avoid the police presence and now they're taking what are sad photos of the 2013 marathon finish line. meanwhile doctors and nurses are working tirelessly and have been to treat the wounded at six area hospitals. some of the best hospitals in the country, right here in boston. dr. ron walls, chairman of the department of emergency medicine at brigham and women's hospital, one of those great hospitals, dr. walsh, good morning to you. >> good morning, matt. >> i'm just curious, because there were so many people in town yesterday, 500,000 people here for the marathon, did you have extra personnel on standby because of the event? >> we always prepare differently for the marathon than for an ordinary day so we have additional medical staff in the emergency department and we also

cooperate with boston ems and the other city hospitals to have a medical team near the finish line. >> i'm sure you were expecting a lot of running related injuries and instead at ten minutes of 3:00 these two explosions. try to take me back and describe the scene in the emergency room as these patients started coming in. >> you have to understand that the emergency department at that point is really anticipating what we would call a normal busy day, so we were geared up. we were ready for these types of running-related issues, and it almost literally is like throwing a light switch, you go from this preparation and ready to do what you think is going to be just a typically busier than normal day, a marathon day and a switch is flicked and all of a sudden it's a whole different thing and fortunately we have drilled for this many times, both within the hospital, within brigham and women's hospital here and cooperatively across the city of boston, and so when

we respond to these things, it's a pretty quick response. >> yeah, there were 28 people i understand brought to brigham and women's. we know there was shrapnel in these explosive devices. talk to me about the injuries you were seeing. >> we had 31 patients in total, nine of those patients had to go to the operating room and the injuries that we saw predominantly were really severe, what we call muss skoe skeletal injuries so injuries to the muscle issue, broken bones, exposed to air, large amounts of tissue loss in those areas, that was the predominant thing. the shrapnel we saw wasn't what we consider weaponized shrapnel, it wasn't something you. you the in a device to make it more lethal. it's the kind of stuff that blows around when an explosion goes off, just the stuff that was there. >> we have reports that there were people who lost limbs. i know i talked earlier to a

doctor from florida who actually tried to care for one gentleman who lost parts of both legs. were you seeing amputations at your hospital? >> we had some really severe limb injuries. i don't know if they ended in amputation. it's hard to know at this point but we had some very severe lower extreme injuries, as severe as i've ever seen. >> and you mentioned you had 31 patients. can you tell me how many of those are still in your hospital this morning? >> yes, of the 31, nine went to the operating room emergently and 14 are still in the hospital in total. >> dr. ron walls, who is the chairman of emergency medicine at brigham and women's, as i mentioned one of the great hospitals in the boston area, dr. walls, thanks for your time this morning. i appreciate it. i know you guys are busy over there. >> thank you, matt. >> we're going to have much more coming up including thoughts from nbc's tom brokaw, but first this is "today" on nbc.

back at 8:48 and in times of national tragedies like monday's bombing in boston we turn to our colleague and friend, nbc's tom brokaw who has unfortunately covered so many of these events. tom, good to see but >> good to see you, savannah. go ahead, i'm sorry. >> i was just going to ask you your initial impressions. >> well my initial impression is

this demonstrates once again just how vulnerable we are despite the fact that in this free nation we have so much more restrictive security in everything you do in the workplace and public places and so on, but you can only guard against so much, but it's important this morning to know that we need to know a great deal more about who was responsible for this, was this part of a wider network of some kind? was it just some freelance lunatic? what was the political philosophy or ideology behind it, if there was any of some kind at all, or was it more like newtown, the shooting, was it just some deranged person who wanted to get attention? until we find that out i don't think that we can come to any sweeping conclusions about the long-term impact on this country. what i do know this morning is that across the country, security will be ratcheted up at public events and workplaces and government offices because that's always the response that we need to have and unfortunately, it's going to be a fixed part of our lives i

think forevermore. >> there's no question at time like these people are looking and remembering some of the terrible moments in our history, of course people think of 9/11, and that feeling of vulnerability but as you mentioned, tom, it's much too soon to know what the nature of this attack is. >> that's exactly the case. take oklahoma city, for example, which happened in 1995. we knew that that was a well defined terrorist attack, carried out by timothy mcveigh and his accomplices who were determined to bring down the federal government if they possibly could. you have to remember that 168 people were killed in oklahoma city. i was just there last week. i saw the memorial again, it's a very somber but beautiful place and everyone i talked to in oklahoma city said the residual effect of that bombing was it made the city more compassionate. it united people in a way that they could not have anticipated at the time and ironically,

oklahoma city was scheduled to have a memorial marathon next week on the 19th, another patriots date, by the way, but now they're reevaluating all that and on our website expressing their solidarity with boston. so we're united, unfortunately, by these acts of violence, whether it's mass shootings or these random, terrifying bombs. >> and you mentioned the significance of this date. one does not have to look far to see examples that happened of significance this week. it was patriots day in boston with the opening of the american revolution and unfortunately, we've seen acts of violence during this week as well. >> we have and we don't know whether that was just a coincidence or not, the virginia tech shooting took place in mid-april, way dough was in mid-april, was that just an accident of the calendar or was that part of the deliberate pattern. as i say there's a great deal more that we need to learn today about who was responsible for this and what the motivations might possibly have been, was it

just a freelance lunatic or was it part of a wider network. from the time of 9/11 on and i've been talking with our national security experts on a regular basis, they've always been worried about what they called sleeper cells, either well-organized out there waiting for an opportunity or freelancers who get motivated by something that they see on television. you remember that we were very lucky not so long ago with that car bomb in times square in which that man didn't know what he was doing, thank god. he's now going to spend the rest of his life in prison but that could have been a terrible act of violence. >> it always bears reminding at this time, as a long time practitioner of our craft that early reports are often in error. i think we've become used to getting more information even this soon after an attack we often do know something of the nature of the attacker, in this case there really are more questions than answers. >> i think everybody has to take a deep breath, savannah, this morning, report what we know and do the best we can with the

information that we're able to get reliably and then all care for each other a little more and be patient when you're in the security lines, not just at the airports, but trying to get into an office place or public event of some kind. this is going to tax our patience, it's going to be another test of the resilience of the american people. i have no doubt we're going to meet it and just one other comment if i can. when i was looking at the scenes in boston today i didn't see anybody in the street rushing to help others, whether they were first responders or bystanders turning to someone and saying i can't help you because you're from a red state or blue state or tea party member or republican or democrat. these are the times when america is more than the sum of its parts, it's a lesson not to be lost especially in washington. >> tom brokaw always good to get your perspective. >> thank you, savannah. >> as we bring matt back in, give us a sense of how people are feeling in boston. i said to mike lupica a few

minutes ago this truly struck at the heart of the city in every possible way. >> it's funny, mike barnacle for his duties for "morning joe" and mike is a long time observer of everything boston. he and i made eye contact and shook our heads because this is not the patriots day we remember. i lived in boston on two occasions, was at the finish line of the marathon on several occasions and it's a joyous time, it's a wonderful place, smiles everywhere. not yesterday at ten of 3:00, savannah. >> matt, i know we will continue to check in with you and get the latest on the investigation and unfolding story there, but first, let's take another look at some of the powerful images from monday's tragic events in boston. >> at the boston marathon, already under way. >> something just blew up -- [ screaming ].

run, go! >> breaking news tonight, an apparent coordinated attack in boston. >> a place of celebration instantly transforms into a scene of chaos. >> we have multiple people down here, okay. i don't know what the cause is. stand by. >> at first i thought it was a cannon blast but it almost blew my hat off. >> it was loud, it was really, really loud and then people just, chaos everywhere. >> it was carnage. it was just carnage. i saw a man who lost part of his leg. >> i knew immediately it was a bomb. i mean, you could smell it. >> i'm in shock. >> just like a bomb explosion that we hear about in the news in baghdad or israel or some

other tragic point. >> boston is a tough and resilient town, so are its people. the american people will be with them every single step of the way. >> get out of the zone. get out of the zone. >> the number of casualties is expected to change throughout the evening. >> the numbness in the city, not out of fear, but i think just out of trauma. >> it's absolutely senseless for boston for this to happen on a day like today, honestly the best day of the year in this city. there are really no words to describe it. it's pretty devastating right now. good morning to you.

8:56. i'm laura garcia-cannon. wish i had better news to bring you but two people died overnight in a fire in san jose. flames broke out at the home in daniel way near o'connor hospital last night. heavy winds made it difficult to fight that fire that broke out around 8:30 last night. want to check the forecast with meteorologist christina loren. those winds a problem? >> they are fierce again. good morning to you. temperatures right now are pretty chilly out there. grab your coat, 70s, bayside 68, 63 at the coast. windiest timeframe between noon and 5:00 p.m. winds will be strong gusting in excess of 50 miles per hour from time to time. make sure you're on your best for fire safety. hope you have a great day. ♪ if loving you is wrong ♪ i don't wanna be right [ record scratch ] what?! it's not bad for you. it just tastes that way. [ female announcer ] honey nut cheerios cereal -- heart-healthy, whole grain oats. you can't go wrong loving it. bee happy. bee healthy.

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real big deals this week and every week. guthrie. guthrie. >> run! go! >> welcome to "today" on what is a somber tuesday morning, april 16th, 2013. that was the scene in boston just before 3:00 in the afternoon on monday. when the boston marathon was shattered by two blasts leaving

at least three dead. patriots day is every year boston's greatest day of celebration. but this morning the city is tending to the injured and at least three families mourning the death of a loved one, including 8-year-old martin richard killed near the finish line just after congratulating his father. guys, good morning. >> hey, guys, good morning to you as well. this is a bit of a surreal morning here in boston. patriots day, as you just mentioned, always a day of celebration. day after, you usually see runners walking around, nursing sore knees, sore ankles. but a lot of runners today coming from about four or five blocks away of what was supposed to be a joyous finish line. they're taking pictures of what is now a crime scene behind us. we know overnight a few developments that police did

carry out search warrant in revere, massachusetts, about ten miles from here, questioning people. but they kont label them the suspects. >> they won't. they questioned a couple of men, took some materiels out of this apartment. we have to know there will be so many leads. they'll be checking surveillance cameras in the busy downtown area. there's a camera everywhere. we know now there were two explosive devices, even up to last night reports of unexploded bombs. that's because there were so many suspicious devices that they disrupted. >> if you've been to a marathon, whether here in boston or elsewhere, you know almost everybody here, the runner or family runner supporting a runner is carrying a backpack. >> exactly right. >> if you think that you've got hundreds of thousands of people along the running route and at the finish line, tens of thousands of people, and so many

carrying a backpack or another kind of a bag, it's easy to understand why security would be almost impossible in terms of screening out someone who might have an explosive device. >> very difficult to know who or what would be suspicious. we're hearing about 126 people still hospitalized, a number critical. i spoke to a doctor last night who said a lot of the damage was lower extremity. this bomb apparently had -- the bombs apparently had things to inflict greater human damage. >> we noticed a lot of the injuries we've been talking about over the last 12 to 18 hours, lower extremities. so these bombs may have been placed on the sidewalk or in trash cans. some indication maybe in a mailbox. we're going to have much more ahead from here. we've been talking to some doctors in emergency rooms throughout the morning. and one of the great sources of pride for the city of boston is their hospital system here. they have six area hospitals that have been treating the wounded or the injured.

and they are some of the best hospitals in the country and the world. and as we mentioned, the injuries really range from bumps, bruises, cuts, to amputations of limbs from what we're hearing. >> and the youngest of the three dead, an 8-year-old. and i wanted to add one other item, talked to a race official who said before the race, this is something we've become used to post-9/11, police dogs went through and sniffed, they looked for bombs and explosive things. but mainly if the computer areas where the officials were. so it was on everyone's minds. >> it's hard to tell whether these devices were planted long in advance of the race or dropped during the race. everybody in the finish line, they're all looking at the street, trying to crane their neck to catch a glimpse of a family member or loved one going by, probably not paying a lot of attention to what was going on the sidewalk behind them or beside them. >> matt and lester, thanks so much. matt and savannah will be back

with more at 9:30 with the latest on the investigation in a live press conference from boston. the guys referenced the lower extremity injuries. we saw so many of those. there's a piece up in the "boston globe" right now, one brother 33, one 31, both who lost a leg. >> the mother got a phone call from one son from the ambulance. >> mom, hurt real bad. same injury, two brothers, same injury, there to watch their buddies run the marathon. >> our thoughts go out to all the families right now. >> let's check out some of the other stories making news this morning. a story following out of iran this morning. a major earthquake has struck iran near the border with pakistan. here is the very latest. good morning, ali. >> good morning. that's right, a huge 7.8-magnitude earthquake shook the southeast of iran. iranian authorities say that this is the largest earthquake that's hit iran in the last 40

years. in a very earthquake-prone country. we're hearing reports of two villages that have been affected in the southeast. the villages are very far from tehran. we'll have to see what the death toll and injury toll in the southeast is going to be. >> ali, thank you. the senate is set to take up the gun control debate today as republicans and democrats face off over the issue of background checks for people purchasing weapons. both could be delayed until later this week as both sides seek more time to rally support. a senate group filed sweeping legislation to overhaul the nation's immigration system today, in what is said to be a landmark of president obama's second term agenda. the bipartisan effort would create legal avenues for international workers to come to the u.s. and put the 11 million ill grants currently living here illegally on a 13-year path to citizenship.

you're up to date with the headlines today, six minutes after the hour. >> a busy weather day as well. a snowstorm to talk about, and severe weather back through wyoming. we're talking about anywhere from 6 to 9 inches of snow over the next 24 hours. ahead of this system, where we've got all this snow, we've got warm air meeting cold air, and where that happens, we've got the risk of strong storms from abilene, texas, in through missouri, central ohio, and alabama, chance of tornadoes. tomorrow an even stronger risk fo well, it's 9:07 now. good morning, i'm meteorologist christina loren. we're still tracking these winds and they are picking up as we speak. they will be strongest between noon and 5:00. get ready for strong gusts especially at the coast. upwards of 50 miles per hour from time to time. highs will be more comfortable, hit the 70s. 70 on the way to livermore, 64 san francisco. getting into the next couple days, the warm-up is on.

we'll hit 80s by thursday, mid-80s by the weekend and peak on monday, 90 in the warmest cities across the bay area. that's your latest weather. willie? >> msnbc contributor mike barnicle is a native of the boston area and long time journalist there who knows the city just about as well as anybody you would ever meet. mike, good morning. >> good morning, willie. >> if my math is right you wrote your first column for "the boston globe" in 1973, 40 years ago. you've been taking the pulse of that city for decades. bha what's the pulse like this morning? >> well, it's a somber pulse today, willie. but there is a pulse. it's vibrating throughout the city. and hopefully throughout the country. and it's the pulse of people who were knocked to their knees yesterday by these explosions that occurred on boyleston street, five blocks up from where i'm standing right now. but as we said earlier today, people got up this morning. the sun rose. they went to work. the city is alive.

most of it. people are resilient here. the spirit is getting stronger here. yesterday was an example of people helping people, complete strangers helping other strangers. so onward. that's -- that's the word of the day here, willie, onward. >> there seems to be a theme i'm hearing this morning. i heard it from my own wife last night who lived in boston for a long time, that this feels like a personal attack. maybe people who don't live in boston can't understand what that means exactly. how special patriots day is. it's a day they go watch their baseball team in boston. it's a day they go watch their neighbors run in the marathon. they celebrate that city. can you explain for people across the country what patriots day means to boston? >> patriots day for years has meant the start of spring in a sense. it's unusual in that you have -- the only major league baseball game played in the morning starts in boston at 11:00 a.m. on patriots day, which is a

statewide holiday. the marathon begins 26 miles from boston in hopkinton, massachusetts. all along the marathon route, along boston college, up heartbreak hill, down commonwealth avenue into the city itself and then to boyleston street and the finish line you have hundreds of thousands of people offering help and assistance. cups of waters. an orange slice to runners, complete strangers from around the world and around the country. of course, the joyous moments occur at the finish line. not for those world-class runners, but for people who run for a cause. your neighbors. people you know. people who are running on behalf of someone who has passed away. running on behalf of the jimmy fund, the cancer fund, research fund here in boston. running for aids awareness. any number of causes. and when this event occurred yesterday, it is because of the communal spirit that inspires so much of patriots day and the marathon, this was as if someone came into your living room and attacked you in your home. that's the feeling.

that's the sense of the crowd. it's obviously a day off from school for hundreds of thousands of children all along the parade route. this was an attack on family. a family of strangers brought together by the community that -- that inspires this one event and has for years. >> and so far one of the great sources of that pain that you're talking about, mike, has been the death of 8-year-old martin richard. the account of the story goes in "the boston globe" this morning that he was at the finish line with his mother, his sisters. he went out to congratulate his father and give him a hug as his father came to the finish line. they separated. his father went and finished the race. martin stepped back on to the curb and died instantly. can you talk about what his death means in all of this? >> yeah, well, you know, the death of any child shatters us all. there is one correction to that story. that's since been added to that story. martin's dad who is a runner was not running in the marathon

yesterday. he was with his family at the finish line. as with so many of the kids who line up along the finish line, they have the police gates, the rails that you see behind me over here. and martin and a couple of other youngsters were gathered up on the rail right at the site of one of the explosions. martin lost his life, 8 years of age, obviously. we've reported that over and over. but the -- the sadness that comes with the death of an 8-year-old, you can magnify it by also thinking about the sadness that comes with all of the other 8-year-olds, 9-year-olds, 10-year-olds, children who now have a freeze frame in their minds, who were there yesterday, of the sights and sounds of the explosions that took place around them. of the blood letting that went on. but they also have and will have a memory of strangers rushing to help strangers. i spoke to a couple of eyewitnesses yesterday.

one of them young lawyer andrew kettlewall was his name. he was there at the finish line as were so many others waiting for his friend, his girlfriend to complete the marathon. he was standing right there in front of the lord & taylor department store on boyleston street. about 75 yards to his right, the first explosion took place. and then instantly within 15 to 20 seconds, the second explosion took place across the street from where he was, 25 yards up. this is a two-block area. with -- with hundreds of thousands of people. many of them youngsters, younger than obviously 26 or 27 as andrew kettlewall's age is. they will have a freeze frame in their mind of people rushing to apply tourniquets to the wounded. complete strangers. not medical personnel to begin with. complete strangers helping strangers. they will have a freeze frame in their mind of one young man jumping on two children and their mom to protect them from,

perhaps, a third explosion that n never occurred. this is the memory they will have. of people helping people, people coming together in a time of incredible trouble and violence. that's the spirit of this city. that's the spirit of this country. we will go on. >> you're right, mike. there was some evil yesterday, but there was a lot more good up in boston. thanks so much, mike barnicle, for your perspective this morning. >> you're welcome. coming up next, eyewitnesses share their firsthand accounts of the boston marathon bombing as it happened. that's right after this. ♪ [ elevator bell dings ] ♪ wow. ♪ what? ♪ mmm. it looks delicious! i didn't work out this morning. i should try it? yeah. actually pretty tasty. sausage, egg and cheese. mmm! this is from special k? no way! that changes things. [ female announcer ] new special k flatbread breakfast sandwiches. with multi-grain flatbread, eggs, sausage, and cheese. it's only 240 calories. if you guys can come back tomorrow, it'd be fantastic.

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good morning to all of you. i'm so glad to see you're all okay. >> good morning. >> great to be here. >> stan, i know you had just finished the race minutes before the explosions. you were actually in the medical tent. can you describe for me what you heard and what was your reaction? >> i was there in the medical tent. all of a sudden this loud reverberating, guttural boom. it just shook you right to your core. we stood up and looked around, said what's going on. the nurse people were looking at us. we said, what was that? we went over to the edge and looked out. then another one went off just immediately thereafter. we thought it was a bomb. we have to get out of here. i took off, headed out. figured i needed to make room for some real victims. took off down the street. and the police were all running towards the incident. and we were running away. i thought best thing to do is just get out of here. i climbed up over a fence and went down a side street and was

really worried about my family. because i knew they had been right where the bomb had been. >> mike, where exactly were you, mike, from where the explosions were set off? >> yeah. we were actually at the corner of dartmouth and boyleston. about 100 feet past the finish line. we were just waiting for stan to finish up, hopefully reconnect with him. i was actually facing the finish line, watching the runners come through. that's when i felt the first boom. basically a big cloud of smoke. about ten seconds later the second boom. that's whenever we took off. >> connie, i imagine for you there was some real moments of fear and not knowing because nobody at that time knew where the other one was. how long were you out of touch with each other until you finally were able to get ahold of stan? >> probably about ten minutes. we had no cell service. finally we started texting and realized that was our best way

to get ahold of him. >> julia, i know you have two young children. fortunately, they were not there at the finish line and were safely home with some friends. but i know you probably saw a lot of children there who were cheering their fathers or their grandfathers along. can you tell me what you saw in that moment of chaos? >> yeah. we were with our friends with their 9-month-old baby. as soon as we saw the bomb, we just told them to run with their baby. i was so worried. there were kids everywhere crying. i was so grateful my kids weren't there. >> stan, i know you said you had to steel yourself in order not to go to piece. sadly i know you have seen a lot and you've had to endure a lot. i imagine you're going to be very emotional and it's certainly going to be hard on you for the coming days. but i know you want to say a lot of gratitude goes to those first responders and to those medics and everyone who ran to the

scene. >> it was really, truly the most amazing part about it. as we were all trying to get away, the police and others are yelling for us to get away, the police are running, charging down the street to help. and there's sirens everywhere and a lot of the volunteers went to help. it was truly amazing to see. these guys were -- were really heroes. i was totally impressed. >> well, we are so grateful, once again, you're all doing okay. we wish all the best for you and your family. stan and connie, rick, julia and mike nixon, thank you all. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back after this. what makes your family smile?

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[ humming ] [ babbling ] the cheerios bandit got you again? [ both laugh ] ♪ the one and only, cheerios we're going to have much more from boston. >> including how to talk to our kids. >> and firsthand accounts as the tragedy unfolded. that's all coming up after your local news and weather. i' 've been having an affair of sorts with greek nonfat yogurt, loaded with protein 0% fat that thick creamy texture, i was in trouble. look i'm in a committed relationship with activia and i've been happy and so has my digestive system. now i'm even happier since activia greek showed up because now i get to have my first love and my greek passion together, what i call a healthy marriage. activia greek. the feel good greek. ♪ dannon

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exploded. katherine hern posted on facebook saying he's in stable condition. shrapnel injury to the thigh will require additional surgery and the extent of the damage is not clear. in san jose a little girl dead and toddler hurt after flames ripped through the home where they were sleeping overnight. girls trapped in a detached building next to a home on north fifth street on east empire street. that's in japan town. a 7-year-old girl found dead in a fire while her 4-year-old sister was treated for burns. investigators are looking into the cause. we'll have a look at weather and traffic right after this.

welcome back. the time 9:28. we have strong winds at the immediate coastline, san francisco and san mateo registering 9 miles per hour. that goes for santa rosa as well. 30 miles per hour range head to the coast throughout the day. watch out for fierce winds, chilly conditions out there as well. by tomorrow those winds will start to relax and we have a

warm-up on the way. really kicks into high gear end of the week and weekend, 70 santa teresa, 72 gilroy and 64 degrees in san francisco. meanwhile upper 60s on the way to oaktown, 68 degrees for you. getting into the end of the week as promised, there is that warm-up. we'll be close to 90 degrees in the warmest cities across the bay area sunday into monday. it's been a rough drive this morning. lets check on that with mike. >> still rough, south 880, look at it jamming up south of mission boulevard. sa series of crashes, newark, union city, fremont, all to the shoulder, might be a glut in the south bay. very slow, stevenson moved to the shoulder at the top of the screen. slow 101, 101 north slowing, northbound routes, look at 85 and 87 coming into town also very slow there. peninsula 101 continues with that sig alert on 92, laura garcia-cannon, back to you. >> another update in half an hour. see you then.

some of the difficult and now indelible images from the boston marathon bombings yesterday. trained first responders rushing toward the scene, but also so many brave civilians doing the same, acting on instinct. here in new york, i'm willie geist along with al roker and natalie morales. coming up, a firsthand account from someone who was just 150 feet from those explosions. >> also, a woman who was running

the race describes the confusion in the moments right after those bombs went off. >> and one of the three dead, sadly an 8-year-old boy. it makes our children feel so much more vulnerable. we've all been talking about this. how do we talk to our kids about this tragedy? >> it's a difficult question yesterday. everywhere you looked, your kids were running through the house. you want information. how do you handle that? >> my kids sadly saw a lot that they probably shouldn't have seen before i was like, okay, stop. when your job is to cover and to watch, the tv is on. they were just coming home from school. >> we're going to get into all that in just a few minutes. first al has a look at the weather. >> as we take a look first of all for today we've got a risk of strong stos stretching from oklahoma all the way into ohio. we've got heavy snow back throughout much of wyoming. heavy surf advisories and windy conditions in central and southern california. rain moves into the northeast later today. for tomorrow look for sunny and cool conditions in new england. sunny and warm through the gulf coast. risk of strong storms from texas

all the way into illinois. a lot more snow back through the central plains. some afternoon showers moving into the pacific northwest. sunny and mild from the 9:31 on a tuesday morning. winds are picking up and they are calming down. we're expecting the strongest wind gust later on today between 12:00 and 5:00. make sure you're ready for that if you drive a high-profile vehicle. debris in the roadways and tie-down loose objects in your backyard. it will be that strong, 64 in san francisco, expecting the strongest wind at the immediate coast. we'll see higher elevations gusting to 50 miles an hour plus yet again today calm winds tomorrow and a warm weekend ahead. alicia lane is an anchor at knbc, nbc station in los angeles. she was near the finish line cheering on a friend when those explosions went off. good morning. >> good morning to you. >> you hear these explosions. what happens next? what did you do?

>> we were inside of a restaurant at the lennox hotel which is right there at the corner of boyleston and exeter. 100, 150 feet from the spectator and finish line. we were having lunch, waiting for my best friend who had run the marathon to have lunch with us. she had already passed through. the massive explosion takes place. we can feel it beneath us. the table is shaking. everything on the table is shaking. ten seconds later another explosion goes off. at that point, panic just struck the entire restaurant inside of that hotel. we all moved back toward the back of the restaurant in order to stay away from blasts, any glass that might shatter. everyone was terrified, myself included, not knowing if that was the only bomb, if that was the only bombs, if there were more to come. boston police then came inside a little bit later, few minutes later p told us to turn off all of our cell phone devices to make sure we wouldn't detonate any additional devices that might be out there.

shortly thereafter, we were ushered out of the hotel and we were evacuated and have since not been able to return. i've just recently been told we can get back in to get our belongings. the entire area is considered a crime scene. no one who was in any of those hotels will be able to stay at those hotels. i want to show you the covers of the newspapers here this morning in boston. "the boston herald." terror at the finish line. graphic photos, heart brenchiwr photos. "the boston globe," i'm not going to unfold, quite gruesome of a woman who was injured there. a really harrowing ordeal. we finally did find my best friend. luckily she was safe. this morning it was really about processing what had taken place. natalie, i know natalie is a runner. she's a marathoner. she knows what it's like to win one of these. it's a huge achievement. especially for the boston marathon which is one of the most competitive marathons.

and this morning we awakened in our hotel room. this was beside her on the night stand. she was doubled over in tears. really inconsolable. she couldn't realize, wrap her head around what had happened. how fortunate she felt and how fortunate we all felt for surviving this. and our hearts going out to those who were injured and the people who were killed. it was just such a terrifying experience. i think i probably haven't had time to process it yet. she is this morning. and it's certainly a difficult day. >> all right. alycia lane from our sister station in los angeles, knbc. thank you so much. glad you're okay. still ahead, one of the marathon runners describes the chaos and confusion as the bombs go off right after these messages. do hot or cold foods ever cause you tooth discomfort? now there's a sensodyne toothpaste that can actually repair sensitive teeth and help relieve pain. new sensodyne repair and protect.

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yesterday. i want to make sure i have this right, susie. you're a couple minutes away from that finish line. david, you were looking up boyleston watching the runners come in when you saw the explosion. do i have that right? >> well, actually, i was seconds away from crossing the finish line. david had already finished. he ran the marathon as well. he's a faster runner than i am. he had already crossed the finish line and was actually waiting for me to cross. >> david, what did you see? >> i was at the finish line -- i was at the finish line. and i was waiting susie to cross the finish line to congratulate her on completing her tenth consecutive boston. and at that time i heard the first explosion. at that moment, there was a lot of confusion in the crowd. waited about ten more seconds. the second explosion went off. and at that moment there was mass chaos. the responders were already in motion. and i knew susie was supposed to be finishing at any second. fortunately, she came across the finish line about ten seconds.

she was actually right across from the explosion on the opposite side of the street at the time of the first explosion. and when everybody started to realize that there was an attack. >> susie, what was your instinct? what did you think was going on as you prepared for this tri ump fant moment, a few seconds away as you put it, what did you think was happening? >> you know what? when the bomb went off it sounded like the start of a marathon when they shoot the gun off. and so i looked over to my left and i saw all of the smoke billowing out of the store. and people were running crazy. and that's when the police and the boston themarathon voluntee came running -- and the camera people came running towards us. i went into shock, actually. i just -- i went into shock mode. and i -- all i could think of was getting across the finish line to meet up with dave.

and basically i guess get out of people's way. because everybody was coming towards us. everybody -- everybody just -- they were -- they were -- they were great with their response. police responded well. the volunteers, all the volunteers with the boston association were great. >> dave, can you describe for us what you saw as you approached the scene? i think a lot of us have been struck by not just medical personnel, not just law enforcement, but by civilians rushing to help in any way they could. what did you see in the moments after the explosions? >> after the first explosion, it was a little bit of a shock where people were curious as to what actually happened. it wasn't until the second explosion until it really set in that there was a -- a bomb and that it was some terrorist activity.

at that point, there was obviously a lot of people in motion. there was a lot of people that went into panic. people started scattering in different directions and screaming. the police, the volunteers were wonderful. they responded very quickly. my immediate response was, you know, what do i do? because susie still hadn't finished. at the same time they're telling us to move down the street. so i stayed for a while. i walked towards the finish line. and fortunately susie came across the finish line. at that moment we were obviously both elated that we were safe. then we immediately started thinking about the families and the loved ones. because there's obviously a lot of injuries. we started to sob a little bit over the fact that we knew that people that came up to cheer on the runners and their loved ones were in serious danger. at that time the police were telling us to, you know, move down the street. a lot of -- of panic in the street from the runners and the spectator spectators.

we just stayed in the middle and moved as fast as we could to get to our phone so that we could notify our loved ones and our family that we were safe. so it was a very trying experience. we both want to say that our hearts and feelings go out to the loved ones and the families that had people there that ended up injured in this horrible incident. and we're both grateful that we're safe. but also want to let people know, you know, we feel for the families. >> absolutely. susie, in my remaining five seconds you've run ten consecutive boston marathons. will you be back for an 11th? >> i plan to qualify, yes. i will be back. >> all right. we're glad you're both healthy. thank you so much for taking a little time on a difficult morning. susie, thank you very much. up next, how to talk to your kids at a time like this. but first these messages. i rig. microscope up next to my face and it's not necessary. >> we have mirrors all around,

it's not as if we can't actually see our reflection. >> it's light-hearted but serious, we struggle with our lifespan, with how we see ourselves on the outside and also on the inside. it highlights that beauty is not just on the outside, it is inner beauty. but sometimes you need to flip the script and highlight, question how you see yourself before you can see the real you. because it's only one you. that's the light-hearted, beautiful you. >> and your daughters are watching. >> what i would do differently now with cass. >> your daughters pay attention to the media. they pay attention to what we say about ourselves and they're always listening. >> how do you stop the momentum -- we all go, i feel fat. and someone says, you look great in your outfit. >> can you believe what people say. a lot of people like you, you want to be kind to somebody when you -- >> you know what i'm saying? you'll say, oh, no, you don't look fat. when i know you're thinking --

maybe a little. >> no, i don't. but anyway, should you believe what people tell you? >> minus what hoda said. >> it was people who noticed the butdty of kayla and florence, so absolutely as women we need to say thank you and accept compliments. >> are you going to change the way you feel about yourself now as a result of the dove experiment? >> i'm not going to list ton that critic inside any more. >> don't listen to the sounds in the kitchen, any more. >> listen to the people who are making the compliments instead of the critic in my head. >> listen to hoda. thank you, ladies. coming up, a sweet story of a mom and daughter baking cookies for a great cause. there is a place where the sky is always blue.

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you have a mother and daughter story to tell us, sara? >> i do. >> it might involve cookies.

i met laura and susan who bake cookies for cancer. after spending some time with them i understood why it was a labor of love. every day, this mother/daughter duo are elbow deep in mixing bowls, running the gourmet ginger cookie company, susan snaps. laura and susan do everything by hand, from the cranking and baking to the packaging and selling. it's a small company with a big mission. at 22 years old, susan was diagnosed with a type of cancer called hodgkins lymphoma right before her college graduation. this was a diagnosis her mother knew all too well. laura's older sister, also named susan passed away at the young age of 28 from that very disease. if that wasn't enough, laura's husband had also been diagnosed with cancer. >> when you look at how many different hats you've worn with cancer, a sister, a wife, a mom, was there a point where you thought, seriously? like couldn't we share the

wealth? like this is too much. >> it can be very lonely. and i am very, i like to you know, be able to take charge and feel like we've got it under control. >> you like to fix everything. >> it wasn't fixable. it wasn't fixable this time. so -- the way that i could handle it was to try to make their days and our days and our family's days as normal as i possibly could. >> in a desperate pursuit for normal, laura began to bake. >> i could tell by the sound of her feet coming down the hallways, what kind of a day she would have. we would wait to see her face around the corner, what kind of a day we would have ahead of us. the days that were the worst were the days that were too much for her and for him. >> and that's where the cookies come in? >> yeah. >> ginger is known to soothe an upset stomach. so laura created a recipe for

gingersnaps to ease their side effects during chemotherapy. and susan began sharing big batches of her mom's cookies with other patients. >> my mom had a small dessert company, she did catering and things like that, she put the gingersnaps on her menu. to see what would happen. as luck would have it, we sold more gingersnaps that christmas than anything else on the menu. one year later, susansnaps was born out of a garage. >> you have a daughter you know, compromised health. bald and no insurance, where is she going to go? across the driveway to work. >> now they operate a store in their home town of atlanta, but they never forget how the story began, visiting hospitals and delivering cookies to patients going through cancer treatment. >> there are nurses and doctors, when i see their faces, it brings you right back. it feels like it was just yesterday. >> but even better, and bigger than the cookies, is the message

of hope that susan symbolizes. eight years later, the statler family, successful and healthy, lived by the old adage, that when life gives you lemons, make cookies. >> the cancer was never why me, but with the company, it's why not? >> i love that. and the big family and they all help out and work in there. and what a great gift, if you haven't gotten your mother something. >> by the way -- they are delicious. >> we've polished off quite a few. >> i love them because they're not too sweet and hoda loves them because they're just sweet enough. >> thanks so much for terrific story. simple one-pot meals you can whip up on a busy weekend. >> this is "today" on nbc. [ female announcer ] safeway presents

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in today's kitchen we're cooking up some seasonal one-pot dishes that are easy to make on a busy night. >> chef george mendez is the owner of aldayea restaurant here in new york and is so sweet to bring in all this stuff on short notice. >> peas and bacon. in this pot here we're going to start with olive oil, some minced onion, garlic. and slab bacon. >> what is the difference? >> in the store you buy bacon that's already sliced. this is a slab. >> you get a lot of fat with that. >> lardon. >> like my thigh. >> this gets sweated first, the bacon fat comes out. we take it out of the pan and here's your onions that are cooked with the garlic. we're going to add the garlic now and you're going to start stirring, all right? >> we need a spoon. >> and can you add the tomato. >> i'm going to add the tomato while you do that cooking. >> it's important to sweat that

nice and slow. >> what's that mean, sweat? >> cook it over low heat, not that much color. >> and a pinch of chili flakes. >> and what's in there, bay leaf? >> that's a bay leaf. it's important that you tear it. >> to all the aroma comes out. really important. >> and this is what it looks like? >> that's fast forward. >> to this point, correct. >> now we're going to simmer that baby? >> we'll simmer that for about a minuten and this is what you end up with here. >> hoda, you can add the sweet peas. >> something is pead in our dish. >> why do if to do everything? >> because i do this all day long, you don't. >> say, that's done. >> all right. >> so now -- >> now we go ahead and make four little -- >> you want the peas cooked or

not cooked? >> briefly cooked, yes. >> now you make little nests like so. >> oh! >> and you break an egg into each one. >> remind those eggies where they came from. >> break some eggs in there. >> kind of cruel, actually. >> no shell in there. >> you're dealing with a trained professional here. >> here we go. >> so there we go. >> from there, we put it into an oven at 350 degrees for eight minutes. >> and okay -- >> this is what comes out. >> we need to break the yolk? >> you finish it with fresh chopped parsley. >> you want to break the yolk? >> why? >> that's the creamy texture. >> and mix it all up. >> i see you, sara. >> and mix it all up? >> mix it all up and spoon -- >> that looks great. >> okay. take it easy.

let's eat now. >> mmm! that's great. >> what's the soup? >> that is a spring pea soup with mint. it's got bacon and more peas in there as well. >> dairy or nondairy? >> 100% dairy free, only olive oil. >> similar to the restaurant. >> thank you, george. coming up tool, from

breaking news happening right now in the south bay where officials are urging people and businesses in the south bay to conserve injury. this follows a vandalism case in which five pse&g transformers were damaged. if you happen to live or work in the south bay you're being asked to conserve energy while crews

try to restore power to those transformers. >> good morning, thank you for being with us. i'm marla tellez. >> i'm jon kelley. we'll get to more on that in a moment. first, for the very first time, president obama using the word "terror" when describing the deadly explosion at the boston marathon. >> any time bombs are used to target civilians, it is an act of terror. >> one day after the attack that killed three and wounded at least 176 more, the president is calling the bombing a, quote, heinous and cowardly act used to target innocent people. those comments from the president come as we're finding out more about what exactly exploded at the finish line. >> we start live team coverage on the terror in boston live near the scene of the blast yesterday. terry, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, jon. what a difference a few hours makes from the nation's capital to here in boston, cleaning up

the streets, slowly bringing down barricades one street at a time. president obama yesterday steered clear using that phrase "act of terror." today he did not mince words a few hours ago. he was adding a few hours ago and called the bombs an act of terror. they do not know whether carried out by an international or domestic organization. those comments came hours after federal, state, local officials made a plea to the public to help them find out who set off those bombs. >> this was a heinous and cowardly act. given what we now know about what took place, the fbi is investigating it as an act of terrorism. >> there has to be hundreds, if not thousands, of photographs or videos or observations that were made down athat finish line yesterday. they are sitting out there amongst everyone that's watching this event this morning. i would encourage

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